Photography Portfolio Expert Advice | Setting up a photography has never been easier! Not only are hosting and domains more affordable than ever, but there are also countless ridiculously affordable website templates, so you can start building your online presence for under $50, right? Technically speaking, yes. However, in a time when pretty much anyone with some extra cash on their hands can get a domain and set up a website, standing out from the crowd of all the websites out there can be more challenging than most people think.

There’s almost a million photography websites out there – let that sink in for a second – a million photography website is competing for the attention of pretty much the same audience. The good news is that most of those websites are downright terrible, which will make your job that much easier. With the right guidance, a few industry secrets, and just a pinch of creativity, you too can set up a website that takes your photography business a few steps ahead of the competition. To help you get started, we put together a list of our favorite design tips that can take any website from drab to fab!

Dare To Be Different | Photography Portfolio Expert Advice

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with website templates, if you’re serious about your photography business, you’ll definitely want to stay away from them for a few reasons. First, these templates usually have all the telltale signs of amateur design – amateurs and beginner developers usually practice their coding skills and try to earn some extra cash on the side by selling these templates for ridiculously low prices. Think about it – what will a cheap, amateur template say about the quality of your services and products to a potential client?

But that’s not the only reason to stay away from web templates. Even if you do stumble across a decent template, chances are it’s already being used by many other photographers, some even in your area or your particular niche. You’re a part of an incredibly creative industry and at the end of the day each aspect of your business needs to show that! Your work will speak for itself, sure, but if your visitors feel as if they’ve already seen a website just like yours, it will be that much more difficult for your work to leave a memorable impression.

Simple Is Better | Photography Portfolio Expert Advice

Using a web template that’s too generic is a bad idea, but setting up a complex website that overshadows your work is just as bad of an idea. Some photographers tend to add one needless design element after another to make their website stand out, but only end up cluttering the design and burying their work under a ton of flashy animations, 3D effects and other unnecessary special effects that only detract from the impact of your work. What you’ll want to do instead, is set up a simple website that pushes your work to the front and center where it belongs.

In addition to the visual clutter, you’ll also want to avoid cluttering up the navigation bar. While your initial idea might be to feature as many links in your navigation bar, hoping that will get your visitors to click and look around, you should limit the number of the links to 5-7 links, max. When facing too many options, a typical web user will experience what is known as choice fatigue and might end up not clicking any of the links at all. To avoid this, limit your selection, and place all the other less important links in the secondary navigation, whether it’s a sidebar or the footer of the page.

Be Deliberate With The Photos You Feature On Your Website | Photography Portfolio Expert Advice

Another common mistakes most new photographers make is uploading way too many photos to their website. We get it, you want to show to your potential clients everything you can do with a camera, but just like with the links in the navigation bar, you’ll want to limit the number of photos you upload per gallery. Granted, you’ll want to upload more than five photos, but don’t overdo it. Uploading too many photos will slow down your website, which will affect the user experience and your search engine rankings, but it will also make your visitors feel like your portfolio is dragging on and on!

Be Accessible | Photography Portfolio Expert Advice

What’s the main goal of your website? Sure, you want to showcase your work, but what’s the reason behind that? If you’re a professional photographer, chances are to grow your client base. What’s mind-boggling, then, is just how many photographers leave out their contact details from their websites, or bury them several clicks deep. Don’t turn accessing your contact details into a treasure hunt – you want your potential clients to be able to reach out to you the moment they decide to book a session, otherwise they might get frustrated looking for a way to contact you and abandon your website altogether.

To avoid this, you will want to include your most important contact details such as your phone number and your email address on each page, including the portfolio page. To improve your chances of getting a visitor to reach out to you, set up a separate contact page with all the other contact details, as well as a contact form that will allow them to contact you without ever leaving your website.

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I had been following Media Novak’s work for a while now and was always impressed with their logo work. The logo designs they came up with based on my wishes for what I wanted it to look like were above and beyond what I had imagined. The process itself was smooth and so easy. I gave input and they took it on board and applied it to the next design. I would highly recommend them any day!

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I cannot begin to say enough about Mark & the team at Media Novak. Their customer service has been TOP NOTCH! They have gone way beyond my expectations and dreams and have put together a website for me that I am so proud of… I actually can’t believe that it’s mine! If you are looking for a new website or new branding then look no further… contact these guys today!

Myrick Cowart – Photographer

Thank you thank you thank you! I really appreciate all of your help and your quick replies and editing, and well, everything. I will DEFINITELY be referring your team! I love my new logo and I love that it is completely my own and completely encompasses my brand. I really appreciate all of the time and effort your team has put into this project. Thank you again and again!

Bethany Petersen – Photographer

I decided to hire Media Novak after seeing a friends logo that I really liked. I sent them my ideas but I actually preferred one of their original concepts over my own ideas! They really understood the look and feel I was trying to achieve and I am delighted with my new logo! I found the process to be really enjoyable and smooth and emails were answered very quickly… a big thumbs up from me!

Karen McGowran – Photographer

Media Novak were helpful and listened to me as the client… never once tried to push their likes onto me… but they do offer good advice. I think what has mattered most to me was once we went live, they were very much still around to iron out little problems that only became noticeable to myself with the daily running of a website and a blog! I would highly recommend them to other businesses!

Jo-Ann Stokes – Photographer

Media Novak designed a beautiful website for me and I’m very satisfied with it. They listened to what I wanted and tailored the site to fit me and I really appreciate that. Their prices are reasonable and the quality is fantastic. I would highly recommend this company.

About Us

MediaNovak is a creative design agency that specializes in web design, online marketing, graphic design and corporate identity solutions. We started our company with some basic ideals—offer our customers exceptional design, while delivering a positive customer experience.

These ideals have helped grow our business and drive customers to our door. A majority of our business comes simply from “word of mouth” referrals—one customer telling another of the experience that we offer here. We consider this the ultimate compliment.